Times Past
Ozark County News
Sept. 8, 1892
The death of Prof. W. F. Holland, who died at his residence in Gainesville Sept. 5, cast a mantle of gloom over our village from which it will not soon recover.
Prof. Holland was born in Marshall County, Ky,. in October 1852 and came to this county when quite young...
Orval Hosea and Jack Dillon, Two of the Four Hammond Bank Robber Suspects, Now Sought By Ozark County Sheriff
Reprinted from the July 27, 1933 edition of the Ozark County Times - A jail delivery here was discovered Friday morning as Sheriff Daniel went to the jail to feed the prisoners. The...
L. W. Brown Decapitated When Flying Wheel On Woodsaw Breaks
Reprinted from the April 19, 1934 edition of the Ozark County Times - L. W. Brown, 46 year old farmer of four miles west of Mountain Grove, met instant death last Wednesday morning about 10 o’clock, when the fly-wheel on a wood saw, with...
Restaurant and tourist cabins, Gainesville, circa 1950 These post card photos, probably from 1949 or 1950, show the restaurant and “tourist cabins” that operated on what is now County Road 806 west of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office and directly across from the Ozark County Ambulance base. The business later included an automobile-service station. Its beginning and some of its owner history are described in the 1948 - 1962 items in this week’s Times Past, below. The cabins have been demolished, but the former restaurant is now a private home.
Ozark County News
Aug. 14, 1890
Ad. – I will remain one month at Bakersfield and am interested in treating Cancers, Ulcers &c. Give me a call. Dr. E. E. Taber
Aug. 29, 1895
G. M. Gordon is making preparations to erect a distillery on his ranch six miles West of town. A better site could not...
This old photo, believed to be a threshing operation near Dora, was shared with the Ozark County Historium several years ago by Geneva Collins Infield of Sepulpa, Oklahoma. Geneva’s father, the late Willie Otis Collins, grew up on a Dora-area farm that had been homesteaded by James Franklin Collins in the 1800s.
Ozark County News
July 19, 1883
The rattle of the thresher is now heard in different parts of the county.
John H. Beach had the misfortune on last Saturday to lose his mare. He had been working her to a thresher, and he thinks she got too warm and drank too much water, shortly after which she died...
This 1958 picture postcard, from the Ozark County Historium’s collection, shows the east side of the Gainesville square. The door of the Ford pickup parked in front of Lister Rexall Drugs bears the name of Joe’s Standard Service, an automobile service station owned by Joe L. Ebrite at Highways 160 and 5 north. In the background, on the southeast corner of the square, is the Ozark County Times building built in 1908 by longtime editor and owner Earle W. Ebrite (1866-1958). A later owner, E. K. Dunnegan, added the false two-story front and metal roof. The building burned on Feb. 14, 1963, when the business was owned by Fred and Ruby Robins. While they built a new structure to house the Times on the same site, the building that now houses the Times, they published the newspaper in the A. D. McDonald building (now the Historium) on the west side of the square.
Ozark County News
Aug. 16, 1883
A petition for a daily mail from West Plains to this place was circulated and numerously signed here this week.
Parties from this county, who attended the Springfield reunion, have all returned, and report the affair a grand success. Probably 15,000 visitors were in...
This photo from the late Ruby Robins’ collection, now housed at the Ozark County Historium, was taken on a Monday afternoon in July 1927, when the Springfield Chamber of Commerce brought its “nationally known” Boy Scout Band to Gainesville. The Ozark County Times reported that more than 2,000 people attended and that a Gainesville delegation headed up “Route No. 5” to escort the Springfield group into town. The caravan was led by Prosecuting Attorney Willard C. Boone and banker J. C. Harlin. Sheriff Walter Endicott also accompanied them.
Ozark County News
Aug. 9, 1883
Mr. James Agee has purchased of Dr. Cantrell, of St. Ledger, the famous Alsup horse Bob for a consideration of $250. Bob is the fastest quarter horse in this section, and we congratulate Mr. Agee on securing him on such reasonable figures.
Ozark County Times
Aug. 6...
This photo of a vehicle crossing the Little North Fork of the White River at Hammond was taken during the winter of 1946-47 by the late Orval Jernigan, a sales representative for the Milligan Grocery Co. Jernigan took the photos of the stores he serviced throughout Ozark, Douglas and Taney counties. He typed a description on the bottom of each photo and mounted them into a photo album that is now owned by Christy Voliva of Ava. The late Kenneth Brown scanned the photos into digital format, and Ms. Voliva agreed they could be shared with the Ozark County Historium. Jernigan noted on this photo that it was taken while he was standing on the footbridge that spanned the river there.
Ozark County News
July 25, 1889
J. A. Bingaman narrowly escaped being drowned last Thursday in Big North Fork. In crossing the river, which was very deep, his horse fell down and after recovering his feet fell again and rolled on his side, throwing Mr. Bingaman into the water, which was so deep and...
This undated photo was taken by M. C. Stephens looking west at the “steel bridge” that was completed over the North Fork of the White River (now Lake Norfork) in Tecumseh in 1924 at a cost of $50,063, according to “A History of Ozark County 1841-1991.” The people in the photo are unknown, but they had apparently gathered to be photographed at the newly completed bridge that was considered a modern marvel at the time. The bridge, 18 feet wide, continued in service until it was replaced in 1988 by the current 38-foot-wide bridge, which was built at a cost of $2.1 million (including removal of the old bridge). This photo is one of many historical images shared on the Dora School Library’s Facebook page.
Ozark County News
July 10, 1890
Mrs. Jacob Suter of Big North Fork died June 30 with consumption. She leaves a husband and several children together with many friends to mourn her loss. We beg to tender them our heartfelt sympathy.
Ozark County Times
July 14, 1911
Rockbridge – We made a mistake...
Until it was demolished in the 1980s, this three-story house, built in 1906 by Tesley Luna, stood at the top of what is now Harlin Drive near the first Gainesville water tower. Luna and his wife, Anna Arnold Luna, sold the house to Tesley’s brother, Everett Luna, who later sold it to their sister, Agnes, and her husband, Dr. Herbert “Doc” Pace, grandparents of former Ozark County Sheriff Raymond Pace. In later years, it was known as the Wolverton house. It’s believed those standing on the lower-level porch are, from left, Hazel Luna (Blair) with her mother Sarah Patrick Luna, an unknown child she’s holding on the railing, and Anna Luna and her daughter Virginia. The person standing on the second-floor porch is unknown. The photo is from an album owned and shared by family descendants Fedra Williams Baker and Beverly Williams Schweppe.
Ozark County News
July 7, 1883
Matt Lamberson is gathering up a drove of cattle. He is lotting them at Mr. Meffords and will drive them north when he has sufficient number.
Ad. – LOOK OUT! Three wagons loaded down to the “guards” with fresh goods are on their way from Springfield and will arrive...